Justice Abhijit Gangopadhyay of Calcutta High Court on Thursday asked the CID to conduct a probe into complaints of financial irregularities and illegal appointments at Jogesh Chandra Chowdhury Law College after the judge held that the detective department (DD) of Kolkata police had failed to probe the allegations.
The judge ordered a fresh probe, taking cognisance of a complaint lodged with Charu Market police station in 2018 by the then general secretary of the students’ union of the college.
Since the police allegedly did not act, the complainant lodged an FIR with the help of the high court, following which the case was handed over to the detective department.
The alleged illegalities pertained to the appointment of principal Sunanda Goenka. Justice Gangopadhyay had on October 4 ordered the removal of Goenka following a petition filed by the present general secretary of the students' union.
On Wednesday, a Calcutta High Court division bench set aside the order and reinstated Goenka. The original case, questioning the legality of her appointment, was sent back to Justice Gangopadhyay for disposal.
Amid the pendency of that case, Justice Gangopadhyay on Thursday asked the CID to conduct a fresh probe.
“The anti-fraud section of the DD has failed to probe the complaints. Therefore the CID has been asked to carry out a probe afresh. If need be, the sleuths will interrogate the principal. CID will decide on whether there is a need to take the principal into custody,” said Justice Gangopadhyay.
Sources in the court said there were allegations of embezzlement of students’ benevolent funds during the tenure of Goenka as principal. And there were allegations that the principal had been appointed in violation of rules.
Goenka was appointed principal in 2015.
“The detective department (DD) gave its closure report to the court. However, the DD allegedly did not apprise the complainant about the closure. Justice Gangopadhyay observed that the police did not adhere to norms by not apprising the complainant about the closure,” the lawyer said.
The single-judge bench has asked the CID to file a report by October 17.